Salvation
by BlackBee
Summary: Naruto is a lonely orphan. His goal in life is to kill the monster who killed his parents and everything else is rarely on his mind. But as he grows up, he learns that some things are not at all what they first appeared to be. KyuuNaru. Companion to 'Extermination'. Warning: Yaoi.
1. Part 1: 4 years old

Here is the companion fic to Extermination that I promised MONTHS ago.

So sorry for the loooooong wait. At first I was trying to write it all at once, but that didn't work. Then I tried to break it up into three parts, but that STILL didn't work. So now after all this time, I decided to break it up even more and finally it has become a lot easier to handle.

This entire thing is in Naruto's POV. As I said it is the companion to Extermination so it is bascially the events leading up to and during the story. It will cover from Naruto's birth to the end of Extermination(with gaps and such of course).

Again I'm very sorry for the long wait. I am also still working on the sequel, but that will have to come up once this thing right here is finished.

**Warning:** If you've read Extermination then you should already know this but there will be Mpreg. Just saying.

EDIT: Now here is the beta'd version by LadyofBlu!

So with all of that said...

Please enjoy!

* * *

_A monster killed my parents. I know one did. I saw it. Mommy and daddy were bleeding. And they had a big hole in their tummies and chests._

_They said I couldn't remember that. I was too little. I was just born. But I know what I saw. I remember. The monster made me remember._

* * *

The only things he remembered seeing when he opened his eyes for the first time were three demons and a monster, but all he could focus on was the giant, red fox demon. Whose red, red eyes were mad and crazed. Whose sharp, white fangs were stretched into a sadistic grin. Whose large claws were stained red.

_"I've been waiting a long time for this_._"_ Were the first words Naruto heard. Then he heard a man screaming loudly and his mommy's voice softly cooing words of love to him while her stomach and chest gushed red. Then his daddy spoke words of power and promises to him and nuzzled his head softly while his own lighter-colored body also gushed red. Then Naruto closed his eyes and fell asleep and when he opened them again his mommy and daddy were gone.

That was the story. That was the story that no one believed.

* * *

Naruto's first memory goes back to the night he was born, but if asked he will tell you that he only remembers the orphanage. After all that's all he should've remembered. Normal brains don't get the ability to store memory until it is three-years-old. Normal brains also don't translate speech until they learn the language. It wasn't possible for Naruto to have understood the things said that night if he didn't even know how to speak until later.

But even though he can remember further back, it is his memories at the orphanage that were the most prominent. It wasn't entirely pleasant, but it wasn't entirely bad either. He was picked on by the other kids, but the adults were sympathetic. They seemed to pity him a lot. It was because he went around telling everyone that a monster killed his parents. And not a 'normal' monster; he said a giant, monster fox killed his mom and dad. All of the kids would make fun of him for telling that tall tale, but the adults always just shook their heads sadly and said;

_"Oh no sweetie. A monster DID kill your parents but a HUMAN monster. Not an animal monster."_

He ignored them all. He knew what he saw. He had nightmares of it. Nights where he'd toss and turn in his tiny twin bed dreaming of blood red eyes and huge sharp claws. Sometimes he would wake up and look out the window and swear he could see a flash of red. But the kids just laughed harder and the adults shook their heads more. Naruto kept talking and screaming about it. He wanted someone to go do something about it but his 4-year-old mind just couldn't comprehend _why_ nothing could be done.

Finally someone was brought in to talk to Naruto. It was a child therapist who specialized in dealing with traumatized kids and Naruto spoke to him every day for two hours. Naruto remembered the guy being really nice and giving him lots of toys to play with, sweets to eat, and funny movies to watch. But he never _helped_ him solve his problem. He was just like the other adults in that he liked to tell Naruto he was wrong. He always said the same the thing. That it was strange that a mind as young as his could come up with such a vivid, false memory, but it wasn't impossible as some kids will do strange things to deal with their missing parents.

Useless. They were all useless.

* * *

Naruto was still 4-going-on-5 when he decided to take matters into his own hands. It would be the second time in his life that he remembered encountering a giant, red fox demon.

The older kids at the orphanage wanted to watch a scary movie one night. The younger kids, including Naruto, were supposed to be asleep in their beds. But Naruto didn't want to sleep. He saw the cover of the movie case had a picture of a monster on it. It wasn't the monster that killed his parents, but he hoped the movie would show that monster and how to kill it.

So he hid on the steps and watched. It was scary. Incredibly scary. He wanted to scream, cover his eyes, and run away really, really fast. But all he could do was freeze and let out tiny, quiet whines of fear. When neither his parents nor an adult came to comfort him, he stopped and shook silently where he sat and forced himself to watch the rest of the movie.

It was scary. Incredibly scary even though the ending was happy. But it gave him the idea he needed. He needed a gun to shoot the monster in the eye. Then he needed a sharp, grey stick to cut its head off. So when everyone was asleep and the whole place was dark, that's what Naruto got up to do.

It was easy for him to make his way through the dark so he didn't turn on any lights and he stayed silent as he made his way to the playroom and then to the kitchen. The orphanage didn't have any real guns so he grabbed the toy gun that shot out the foam bullets. Two out of the four bullets were missing, but that was okay because the monster only had two eyes. He then went to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest, sharpest knife he could find.

With his knife in one of the pockets of his little, orange footie pajamas and his toy gun in hand, he felt ready. So then, with the kind of stealth not ever seen in a four-year-old, Naruto snuck out of the orphanage without making a peep.

He waddled his way to the forest because that's where monsters live. He didn't know how he knew that or why he felt the forest was the best place to check, he just did. It was pitch black, but Naruto navigated his way easily through the night until he was well within the forest.

Holding his little toy gun close, Naruto was a little afraid. He was all alone in this dark forest looking for a giant monster fox. No one would be able to protect him or save him like his parents did. But he needed to do this. He needed to because no one else will. And even though he was much smaller than the man who killed the monster in the movie, Naruto was certain he could do it too because he was the good guy.

He wanders around, staying completely silent. As much as he wants to call out to the monster fox, that's not what happened in the movie so that's not what Naruto will do. It took only a few minutes for his wandering and silence to pay off.

A pair of eyes, not much higher then himself were staring at him from the darkness of the trees. They were a red color, like the monster fox's eyes, but they were too close to the ground. Naruto couldn't see the rest of the body, only the eyes. He tensed a bit and held his loaded gun closer. It was only when he heard a childish voice, so _human_-like and comforting, that he calmed down.

"Hello."

"H-Hi," he answered a bit shyly. The eyes tilted a bit, as if the head they were attached to tilted in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds prompting the voice to say, "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you."

And Naruto could _feel_ the voice the telling the truth. There was a soothing scent in the air that strangely calmed him down immensely. It also made him a bit sleepy, but he had to stay awake. He could only go nap once the monster fox was dead.

"I-I'm looking foh ah monshur."

"A monster? Why?"

"A monshur keeled my mommy an my daddy an I wanna get vevenge," Naruto answered a bit more angrily. The eyes tilted in the other direction.

"Pretty brave of you."

Naruto smiled, happy that for once someone was not making fun of him for his story.

"But humans live in the city behind you."

Naruto frowned and shook his head. "No, no! I'm not looking foh ah man. I'm looking foh ah _monshur_. Ah monshur _fox_."

The eyes suddenly gleamed.

"A monster fox you say?"

Naruto nodded frantically with a glare on his face. "Don make fun ah me!" He aimed his little toy gun. It didn't occur to him that shooting someone for making fun of him would leave him with one less bullet to use against the monster. The eyes closed and Naruto's eyes could somehow pick up the slightest movement of the head they were attached to moving from side to side.

"Oh no, I won't make fun of you. In fact, I want to help you."

"Really!?" Naruto asked excitedly, lowering his gun. No one had ever wanted to help him before. The eyes opened and moved up and down in a nod.

"Yeah. But first you have to help me know what this monster fox looks like."

"He's big an red an has big, white teeth, an big, sharp claws, an big, red eyes kinda like yours only evil an crazy!" Naruto shouted excitedly. There was a chuckle in the air.

"Alright I understand most of that. I think I can get a clear picture in my head of what this monster fox looks like. But help me with the size. Is it this big?" The eyes got real low to the ground. Naruto shook his head.

"No bigger!"

"This big?" The eyes were at the same height as Naruto.

"Bigger!"

"This big?" The eyes were at the height of the adults.

"Even bigger!"

"This big?" The eyes rise to the height of a tall tree.

"Bigger! It's bigger than anyting I ever saw! It touch the sky I tink!" It didn't occur to his 4-year-old mind that if these eyes were normal, they wouldn't be able to go that high. He didn't pick up anything strange about this encounter. It was only after the voice and the eyes and the body they were attached to stepped out into the light that Naruto realized that something was very wrong.

"Well I can't get any bigger than this or I'll get some unwanted attention. I'll just have to take your word for it," the large baby monster fox, with his nine tails swishing behind him, grinned a monster fox grin.

Naruto let out a scream and frantically got his gun ready. He screamed as he shot the toy and the first foam bullet bounced harmlessly off of the baby fox's cheek. He screamed as he shot again and the second fake bullet missed entirely. He screamed as he pulled out the knife he carried with him and threw it.

The baby fox raised an eyebrow in amazement as the knife went farther than expected, though it still didn't reach him.

"Uh good throw I guess. But you're not going to catch yourself a monster fox with that. You need to be much stronger and much," the baby fox laid down. "Bigger."

Poor, little Naruto was completely freaked out. He expected this to go exactly how he wanted it to go. He wanted to look cool when he avenged his parents. He didn't notice how the fox looked a lot younger than the one that attacked on the night of his birth. He just saw a big, red fox that he failed to kill.

Naruto didn't know what to do. Run away? Stand there and be killed? No. Naruto took a third option. He fell down on his little bottom and cried his little heart out. Loud, high-pitched wails left his mouth and tears ran down his cheeks. His eyes squeezed shut as cried so hard he started to hiccup. He was crying because he failed his parents, because he was afraid for his life, and because his butt hurts. He wanted the big fox to drop dead. He wanted to open his eyes and see the fox magically out of life.

"What's wrong?" He heard the fox softly say. And maybe it was because he couldn't see the monster but he answered honestly.

"I-I-I-I want you dead! WAAAAAH!" He cried.

"Awww, don't cry," the boyish voice said soothingly. Naruto surprised himself when his cries actually quieted down and became hiccups and sniffles instead of all out bawling.

"It'll all be alright," and strangely enough, the voice was now right in front of him. Naruto opened his eyes and was shocked to see a boy his age squatting in front of him. The boy had the same colored eyes and hair as the large fox demon, but he looked as human as Naruto with spiky hair and bangs, a tan skin tone, and even red t-shirt-and-shorts pajamas. But even with the touch of feralness added to his overall persona and the familiar smell, Naruto's four-year-old mind couldn't quite tell that this boy in front of him and the fox demon were one and the same.

"Whe-Wher-Where's da monshur?" He sniffled looking around. The 4-year-old boy in front of him shook his head and when he spoke, he spoke much more eloquently than the blond.

"There's no monster here. The monster you really want is gone now."

"Gone?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded. "So you better get back to the orphanage before anyone notices that you're gone and then get worried about you. Here, I'll help you gather your stuff and walk you back," the boy said holding out his hand.

Naruto may be young, but he wasn't _that_ stupid. The monster fox disappears and this strange boy who makes him feel safe shows up in front of him. A trick he didn't dare think it could be, but he also didn't think the monster that killed his parents was dead. The monster was gone alright. Naruto couldn't feel the presence the fox demon had anywhere. But it definitely wasn't dead. This boy must've chased it away.

The night, he was sad to admit, was a failure. But as he put his small hand into the other boy's small hand, all the bitterness from the failure left him. He strangely felt a lot better holding hands with this kid as they walked around and picked up the foam bullets and knife. Naruto felt sort of like this kid was made for him, which was a strange thought, even for the four-year-old. But their hands fitted perfectly and Naruto was oddly happy.

Thinking about it, the people in the movie didn't get the monster on the first try either. They had plenty of chances to kill him. And as Naruto chatted animatedly with his new friend, he figured he'll have plenty of chances too.

* * *

And done!

A little short sorry! Later chapters could get really long though. My favorite part had to be writing out Naruto's dialogue lol. He's 4!

Also for readers of my other stories, this has the same priority as the others. Demons Can Love Too IS coming soon! I just needed to get this up first.

Hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter. Please, please tell me what you think!


	2. Part 1: 7 years old

Wooo finally! I was dedicated to updating at least 1 thing in March haha.

Wow 6 months..ahehe I never meant for that to happen. Big sorry to EVERYONE reading this for the long wait!

The real problem I had with this fic is I didn't know what style to write it in. I had written scenes in first person POV and a few in third and my organizing was a mess so this chapter was a mess for the longest time(especially as I kept planning and that meant breaking up this story more and more)...I mean it was originally INTENDED to be a three-shot. But NOPE not anymore lol!

But then I sat down, cleaned it up and organize so here is the final, polished product :)! The story will be in 3rd person POV and in Naruto's all through out and I'm using my 1st person POV scenes as notes and guides for keeping Naruto as the character I want him to be.

This chapter is a little less than 5000 words so it's much longer than the last one! I'll try to keep the rest of the chapters decently-lengthed(or long) as well.

_Anon Review Reply_

_Somone- Jesus I'm sorry for the wait but I assure you that I will not EVER abandon this piece. Even if it gives me trouble sometimes haha. Thank you I will try hard to keep it interest!_

_Guest- Thank you! Sorry for the wait!_

That's all. once again I'm so sorry for the wait.

Final notes: THis story will be told in a series of time jumps. Last chapter Naruto was 4. This chapter he's 7. Next he'll be 10 etc. And this is UNBETA'D...duh! But I gave it an extra read thru and now just eliminated typos.

Please enjoy!

* * *

The next time Naruto would remember encountering the fox demon would be when he was seven-years-old.

By then he wasn't in the orphanage anymore. At five-years-old he was adopted by his godfather(who despite the title, wasn't his _real_ father now as Naruto had learned) Jiraiya. It took a bit of asking and whining, but the much older man finally told him why he waited so long to adopt him.

Jiraiya used to work as an agent. A secret agent. An agent like in the action movies but he actually worked _with_ the Uchiha police force. He was the best spy master around and since he was born and grew up in Konoha he wanted to use his skills to help it. He knew how to get tons of connections and he used anything and everything to bust a lot of crime rings. It was an incredibly dangerous job, he did a lot of traveling for it, and he got tons of enemies.

But throughout it all he had a partner. His 'best friend' Orochimaru had skills that competed with his. But instead of turning it into an intense rivalry, they became the best of friends and used their teamwork to crack many cases. Jiraiya said that if it weren't for Orochimaru, some cases would still be unsolved today. But his partner was also a bit _wrong_. He told Naruto that Orochimaru was orphan like him but he lost his parents when he was a kid not a baby. He never fully recovered from his parents' death and that made him more susceptible to some of the more dangerous trades and persuasions.

He betrayed Jiraiya for an intellectual, crime-conspiracy group. Jiraiya just barely survived the encounter thanks to his doctor friends Tsunade and Shizune. Since then his godfather retired and chose the simple life of an author(he promised to let Naruto read his books one day when he was older). The easy, choose-your-own-hours, lifestyle of an author made it much easier to find time to take care of Naruto and that's what he decided to do. And with the skills he had from his time as an agent, he could easily protect Naruto from any danger. On the off chance he couldn't, he had people he could call that could.

Naruto didn't know what it felt like to be betrayed by a friend. He couldn't understand the pain one goes through when the person you thought you could trust above all others hurts you on purpose and doesn't feel bad. But he hugged Jiraiya anyway and told him that he didn't have to cry because Naruto would always be there. At the time, Naruto didn't understand how he knew his adoptive father was going to cry even though his tears hadn't left his eyes yet, but Jiraiya wasn't surprised so neither was he.

Since then there hasn't been any secrets between the two. Jiraiya admitted that he knew Naruto's parents personally and he told him all kinds of stories about them. In return, Naruto never hides his thoughts from his godfather. There were still a few barriers between them. Jiraiya never lets Naruto call him 'dad' or 'daddy' and he told him he would never have a new mommy. And he forced Naruto to take his mother's last name instead of his own or his father's because as a very drunk Jiraiya admitted one night, Naruto was a bastard child and so he had to have his unwed mother's last name.

But life with his new parent felt almost complete. The man did a great job taking care of him, making sure he was never hungry or thirsty or scared. And during the very few(_**very few**_) times Naruto did get sick, he did his best to make sure Naruto got better. When he felt bad Jiraiya cheered him up and he cheered up Jiraiya in return. So Naruto was incredibly happy with his guardian. He felt that this one man managed to successfully stand in for his parents. Even though he'll never replace them(he tells Naruto this constantly).

But for the sake of his true parents, Naruto still wanted revenge.

* * *

Unfortunately as he grew up, Naruto could hardly find any chances for that revenge.

He told Jiraiya about his goal and Jiraiya, to Naruto's complete and utter shock, shot him down. He told him that his pursuit was pointless, because the monster that killed his parents was already dead. At seven-years-old, Naruto didn't want to believe this was true. He refused to believe it. He _cried_ because he didn't want to believe it. He remembers the giant fox he saw at the orphanage and he knew it was still alive.

Jiraiya only laughed bitterly and said,

"A fox huh? Trust me Naruto a fox is NOT what you are looking to kill."

After that, Jiraiya said nothing more on the subject and Naruto realized he was completely alone on this. Occasionally his thoughts strayed to that red-haired boy he met on the night. He would think,_ 'if that boy was here, he would help me'_. But he never saw that boy after that night.

School was the same as the orphanage. He couldn't easily make friends because he found it hard to get into what they were into. He wanted to talk about monsters. Fighting and slaying monsters especially foxes. Kids didn't know why. They couldn't _get_ why. So they avoided him because he was weird and that was fine with Naruto. If they couldn't help him then they were of no use to him. At least, that's what he told himself every time he ate lunch alone.

Unfortunately his one track mind also got him in trouble with the school administration. Skipping class to go to the library, not listening to the teacher to draw imagined scenes of him slaying the monster fox or else asking questions that had nothing to do with the lecture, arguing with adult figures who tried to discipline him; Jiraiya told him the teachers wouldn't be so scared if Naruto didn't _growl_ or _bite_ at them. And his godfather wasn't too happy about his poor grades.

He told Naruto constantly that he needed to pull himself together or else he would be branded a 'troubled child' and bad things would happen. The school was only being lenient because they knew his parents were killed and that it happened in front of him. Naruto didn't like disappointing Jiraiya, not after all the man has done for him, so he tried to rein it in. It was hard but he did find himself getting a little attached to one of the teachers, a man named Iruka Umino.

He allowed Naruto to eat lunch with him and he talked about how he also had his parents killed in front of him when he was young and how he recovered from it. He told Naruto a lot of things that made him feel warm, happy, and special.

But it was hard because it was in the back of his mind and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it.

One day it became too much to ignore.

* * *

It was after school and all the kids were rushing to get home.

Naruto wasn't running with them. He was running to the boys' bathroom. He hid in one of the stalls and pretended he was just doing his business for a long, long time.

He was sort of nervous about doing this. He planned on staying after school and sneaking into the library again. There had to be more books he could read and if not he'll teach himself to use one of those comp thingies that the bigger kids can use. But after school hours the library was locked and only place students were allowed to be is in the cafeteria with the ladies who run the afterschool daycare. Obviously he wasn't going to convince them to let him use the library so he had to resort to other tactics.

He did feel bad. Stealing anything was wrong, Jiraiya once told him. But stealing keys from Iruka felt like a special kind of wrong. Especially because he tricked the man into turning his back so that he could grab them and hide them in his pocket. And Jiraiya was definitely going to be worried when he comes back from the publishing house to see Naruto isn't there doing his homework.

But he _had_ to do this. He couldn't wait anymore and he was tired of constantly getting interrupted and yelled at for doing his research. Today he finally going to learn something with no trouble.

Naruto stayed in the bathroom longer than he meant to. He panicked each time he heard a set of footsteps outside and during stretches of silence he was too paranoid to leave. He couldn't get out until the janitor came in and forced him out.

"What are you doing here? Day care is almost over and I'm sure your-uh-uhhh-your uh...Your guardian will be picking you up soon. Get going kid."

He dashed to the library then. The hallways were empty and outside he could see it was getting dark. That made his heart beat faster, thinking about what Jiraiya would do when he sees it's dark and Naruto still isn't home. But he squashed the feeling. If his godfather would just _help_ him out a little being a great researcher himself then maybe Naruto wouldn't have been forced to do this.

He heard a few voices coming from the cafeteria. Seeing as how that was just down the hall from the library, and he was already feeling anxious, it took Naruto several tries to open the locked library and sneak in. He shut the door behind him and sat on the ground panting, trying to calm down from the thrill.

It was completely dark in the library and Naruto stiffened a little. He wasn't afraid of the dark and he wasn't afraid of the school. It was said to be pretty new and so there weren't any ghost stories floating around. Still he felt a little uneasy in the room. Like he wasn't alone or something. Naruto didn't turn on the lights and instead looked around. Ever since he was little he was gifted with good eyesight in the dark. He didn't know why and the orphanage thought it was weird but Jiraiya wasn't surprised so neither was he.

There was nothing else in there with him except the books and comps thingies and tables and stuff so he brushed his gut feeling off. He was probably just being paranoid on account of all the movies he watched plus the fear he felt at getting caught once this was all over. So he made his way over to the light switch and flicked it on. Naruto gave one more look around and still saw nothing.

Time to get to work then. He made his way over to the real books. The 'non-fiction' section they called it. He had never been over here before because despite his one-track mind he was still seven and so the books in the fiction section, especially the monster ones, held his attention. But the withdrawal from the research kicked his determination into overdrive and he was determined not to look at the fake stuff for now.

The first place he looked at in the real section were the animals and he quickly found what he was looking for. Foxes. He reached out and grabbed a flat book on the animal. One the cover was a realistic picture of an adult red fox. It was standing in a bunch of yellow and red leaves with trees in the background and it was staring straight at the camera. Naruto was seven-years-old and he was still petty and lacked discipline. So his emotions override him and instead of immediately reading he threw it on the ground and kicked it.

He hated foxes.

He heard someone clear their voice behind him. It was then he realized he forgot to lock the door behind him. Fearing it was a teacher, he whipped around, ready to apologize and argue with everything he had that he _had_ to be here to research, only to see...a girl his age?

She was exactly as tall as him, with round cheeks, a tiny nose, and naturally pink lips. She had long, straight red hair with bangs and frilly white with pink lace head band, and the poofiest, girliest-looking dress he had ever seen. Seriously it was all white but decorated with pink bows along the hem and collar and up the sides and front and long white sleeves with lace at the end that ended at his wrists. On her feet were some white socks and black, shiny Mary Janes.

Yuck.

The coolest thing about her-the one thing Naruto liked-were her eyes. Her eyes were a strange brown color that looked sort of red as he stared into them longer and reminded him of that boy. And she also had a..._ew_ she had a _fox_ _tail_ attached to her back, swinging around aimlessly. Naruto stuck out his tongue in disgust. He _hated_ foxes.

"Hi there," she smiled, her dimples showing. Naruto leaned away a bit. Girls were still gross to him and this girl, the pure and utter epitome of _girl_, was exactly what he was afraid of. He didn't say anything in reply so the girl continued speaking.

"It's late," she said pointing out the obvious. Naruto nodded his head.

"I know that!"

"What are you doing here this late?"

"Um...I'm looking at books."

"Does your new parent know you're here?"

This time Naruto's face turned red as he angrily shouted, "None of your business!" His status as a former orphan wasn't exactly a secret but it also wasn't something he liked talking about or even hearing about. And a silly girl had no business learning about his revenge. The girl frowned and tilted her head.

"Can I make it my business?"

"No! Why do you care anyway? What are you doing here?" He asked in rapid succession. The corners of the girl's mouth curled up into a mischievous grin and she put her hand up to her mouth as if to contain her nonexistent giggles.

"Oh I'm here to play a trick on someone. I think it's time he found out what he's dealing with here."

"Well good for you! Go do that and leave me alone!" Naruto shouted. He needed to get back to his research before someone catches him. The girl nodded.

"Okay okay! Turn around then!"

Now Naruto was annoyed. What was she doing ordering him around? Girls are so bossy. He turned around, hoping that this would make the girl leave. But then he felt two, small, incredibly warm hands cover his eyes.

"Hey!" He screamed immediately grabbing at them. He heard a laugh behind him but the voice was much different than the girl's. He pulled hard but whoever was behind him must've had some super strength because the hands would only budge the tiniest bit. He was starting to get scared because he saw this in a movie that Jiraiya watched once with some drunken friends. He wasn't supposed to watch it but he couldn't help himself because he needed more ideas. Now he literally couldn't help himself. He was about to kick backwards when the person spoke again.

"Okay look at me now." And _he_ took _his_ hands away. Naruto turned around and went slack jawed.

The girl was gone. In her place was a boy that looked almost exactly like the boy he met three years ago except obviously he was the same age as Naruto now. Same spiky hair. Same tan skin. Same weird eyes. Same feral-like appearance. He at least ditched the dress in favor of a red shirt with a black collar and some black jeans. There were no shoes on his feet and nothing in his hair and that damn fox tail was gone at least.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He blinked a few times.

The boy grinned in a way that was eerily similar to the monster fox.

Naruto was so confused he didn't know what to say.

"A-Are you-where's-the...what's your..." Was all he managed before he stopped and tried to piece together what just happened in his mind. A girl was behind him and now she's the boy he used to know. But she placed her hands over his eyes and they never moved so...what just happened?

"I think I got all of that and I'll answer mmm not in order! Yes! I am that boy you met three years agos in the forest. My name is Kurama. And that little girl you just saw-"

Naruto didn't give him a chance to finish that sentence. He had to get at least one hug in. So he jumped and practically swung them both around. They haven't seen each other since their first meeting and Naruto could never forget what this boy was to him. It took someone else pointing it out. When he retold his story to the other kids they laughed and laughed but one mentioned how the red-haired boy saved him. He was a hero.

Naruto thought so. He also thought he was really, really brave because that night as he sat and cried the other boy was chasing away the demon. He also felt slightly jealous. How could that boy be that intimidating? He certainly didn't scare the monster, and he had weapons! He wanted to be scary. He wanted to be intimidating. He wanted to install fear into the monster that killed his parents.

But still, he looked up to the boy and even though he hasn't seen him since, he admired him.

"Ahehe I missed you too," the boy finally responded returning the hug. "Course I was never really that far away."

"Then where were you?" Naruto asked pulling away. "Why didn't you come see me again? Did you know I got adopted? His name is Jiraiya and he's really great to me! I wanna show you and I wanna show you what I've learned and I wanna show you-" Naruto was so excited to see his old friend he completely forgot that he was supposed to be researching. However the thought of the monster fox didn't leave his mind. In fact he got more excited thinking of showing this boy-_Kurama-_what he learned and then Kurama teaching him how to scare the monster fox.

"Ahaha I'm sure you have a lot to show me," Kurama commented looking all too amused by Naruto. Probably because he was bouncing on his toes. But at 7-years-old the concept of looking cool, even with Kurama looking cool in front of him, wasn't an issue. Especially not with Naruto.

"And tell you! I've watched SO many movies without Jiraiya seeing and I learned so much. I got plenty of ideas and-and I wanna tell you and I wanna learn from you too!"

"Learn from me?" Kurama repeated with a smile. Naruto's head nodded so fast he got a little dizzy.

"You scared the monster fox off! I gotta learn from you Kurama!"

"Oh really now? I don't think I'm good enough to scare a monster fox off though Naruto. It takes something significant to do that."

What?! What Naruto was hearing was pure fake stuff! Naruto was _sure_ he could scare the monster fox off. He was sure he could kick his butt too!

"Oh please!? Please?!" Naruto clasped his hands in front of him. "Please! Please! Please! You hafta help me! I-I'm learning but with your help I'll learn faster! I'll get my revenge quicker!"

Kurama briefly looked surprised before he smirked. A sharp little fang poked out of his mouth over his bottom lip and Naruto could only think '_He looks so cool! I wish that I could look scary.'_

"I can teach you a few things."

"Teach me!"

"Lucky you I was actually planning to teach you a lesson right now."

Whoa right now? Right here? Naruto backed away in surprise a little. He didn't expect this at all! But now that this was happening...it was SO GREAT! The blond practically bit his knuckles in excitement. He started hopping from foot to foot in giddiness and he felt his feelings of admiration grow stronger for Kurama. The boy actually sought him out to _teach_ him. He was so the best!

"Okayokay what?!" Naruto exclaimed. The next words he heard threw him completely off guard.

"That girl you saw before was me."

What? Naruto frowned. That girl from before?

"You?"

"Yes."

"You're a girl?"

"No I'm a boy. Some would say genderless but I like to identify myself with this gender; usually when I'm like this. I just made myself look like a girl."

Was it a magic trick or something? Because his hands didn't do anything. Did he kick it all off with his feet and rip the sleeves off of his arms with his mouth? Naruto looked around but he didn't see a wig or dress or anything that could be used. And what did he mean by genderless? There are boys and girls and nothing else right? Kurama was being so weird now. Only by remembering that this is a lesson did Naruto keep playing along.

"How?" He asked tilting his head.

"Simple. I used an illusion."

"Huh?"

"An illusion. I tricked your eyes into seeing something that isn't really there. It's not perfect yet as you saw and one day I will be able to actually make it there but until then it's only...a fake picture if you think about it."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. An illusion? A fake picture? Tricking his eyes? It's not perfect 'as he saw'? It all sounds so...complicated! Like those special pictures his teacher showed the class once. There were two things in every picture and nothing was as it seemed at first glance. That was hard enough to get but this boy...he changed his entire gender and clothes without his hands!

"How did you do that? Can I learn?" Weird as it is, it can be done apparently. So it would be useful to know for his revenge.

"I'm a demon."

"A what?"

"A demon. You commonly refer to us as monsters but I'm a demon. That's why I can do it."

"A demon? Monster?" Naruto asked tilting his head to the side. The word 'monster' rang through his head more than demon did. And he started to feel a little uncomfortable with that. The monster fox that killed his parents was something called a demon then? That certainly narrowed down his search and helped him because now he had a better idea of what to look for...but what was this sinking feeling in his gut?

"Yes! But I'm not just _any_ demon you know. I'm actually strong and powerful so you should be grateful I'm here!"

"G-Grateful? Well I am-I mean I want help but-"

Kurama backed up and did a mock bow in front of him. "My true name is Kurama. But I'm the great and powerful Kyuubi no Kitsune! Here to offer you my services Naruto."

Naruto froze. He literally felt everything inside him just stop and his hair stand on end. Kitsune? Nine-tailed kitsune?

_Sharp, white fangs were stretched into a sadistic grin. "I've been waiting a long time for this." Mad, crazed red eyes._

_Nine tails swinging behind._

"Hm?" Kurama looked up and saw Naruto's reaction. "What's wrong?"

"...You..." Naruto whispered. He stumbled back a little as he went weak in the legs. As he stumbled back, he tripped over something and fell to the floor. One glance at the fox on the cover of the book and he felt what little semblance of rationality he had slowly start to leave him. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"You killed them," he whispered once more. "You killed my parents."

Kurama then smirked. He smirked at what Naruto just said. He _smirked_.

"So you really are still after that silly and misguided revenge of yours huh? I played along before but now I just find it funny and cute that you want to kill me," he snickered. He _snickered_. The bastard was laughing at his need for revenge.

"You...You...WHY'D YOU DO IT!?" Naruto screamed running up and grabbing onto the demon's shoulders. The demon's grin never left his face, even as tears poured down Naruto's.

"WHY'D YOU KILL MY MOM AND DAD HUH?! WHY?! AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?! WHY ARE YOU...Why are you..." Naruto trailed off as he lost his train of thought. He was being overwhelmed. Tears blurred his vision and he was shaking so much and sniffling and he was surprised he was still standing.

Now the demon was frowning.

"My purpose that night _was_ to commit murder, but certainly not against your parents as you think. My purpose tonight however, is to save you from this life. The human world is not meant for you."

Naruto's grip tightened. His nails were now digging into the red-eyed boy's shoulders and he hoped it hurt. He glared harsher than ever. He growled out, "I want to kill you."

"I guess you aren't going to listen to me now huh? What if I told you I _didn't_ kill your parents. That I killed your parents' real murderer?"

Naruto's eyes widened. The monster fox was right in that Naruto wasn't listening to his words before, partially because he didn't understand them. But that he understood clearly. And he didn't know what to say. He wasn't expecting that. He was expecting a confession and for his thinking to have been right all along. There's no way he'd falsely accuse someone of killing his parents right? No way. This could be a lie. Naruto grew up with a former agent and this kid was obviously the monster fox and monsters will lie. They will _lie_. So he knew he'd have to doubt these words.

"I'd-I'd-I'd ask you-I'd-I'd-" If he could just pull himself together long enough to string together a sentence.

"I have no proof if that's what you're looking for." The demon shrugged. "You just have to believe my word for it."

"Then I'd say I don't believe you!"

"Why not?" The demon asked looking annoyed.

"Because all you have is your word and that's not enough!"

"And all _you_ have is your faulty memory which didn't even catch everything! ...Listen to me I'm getting upset. This will not do."

The demon pushed Naruto's hands off of his shoulders. Naruto immediately glanced at them, looking for blood. He was disappointed to see there was none. His attention quickly went back to the monster when _it_ spoke again.

"How old are you? Doesn't matter you clearly are not old enough yet for some critical thinking skills. Maybe once those come to you I'll be back to offer my services once again," the demon actually bowed towards him again. It had to be mockery or something. It had to, which just made Naruto even more angry.

"Now I must leave before you attempt to strangle me, spit on me, or both." The demon grinned. "Ciao."

And right before Naruto's eyes he vanished.

Once, twice, three times Naruto blinked. His expression was a mixture of shock and outrage. He ran over to where Kyuubi was standing and looked around. The red-head was nowhere to be seen. Strange it was Naruto could _feel_ it still in the room. And it wasn't like that gut feeling that told you 'it's B!' when taking a test. No this was different. He could literally feel the fox demon's presence. But he couldn't understand why exactly he felt this and he couldn't see the fox demon anywhere.

Soon enough the feeling 'left' through the door.

There was no point in chasing it, even Naruto knew that. His eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He wasn't sleepy. He knew he was wide awake and aware through everything that had just happened.

So...the monster fox then was a demon.

Kurama never did answer whether or not Naruto could do the illusion thingy too. But that was the absolute last thing on Naruto's mind.

Kurama was the monster fox. The fox that killed his parents. He knew it. He was sure of it. _It_ used an illusion. It must've. Now Naruto didn't even know its true form. Most likely it was the fox.

He would get his revenge. He felt sick and disgusted that once upon a time he actually _admired_ the _**thing**_. He should've known something was wrong the moment it decided to be different and _pretend _to support him. No one supported him in this not even Jiraiya. He should've known. He was so young and stupid and foolish. And he was such a baby to be crying like this. He didn't even know what hurt more. Being tricked into admiring his parents' murderer, or admiring someone who turned out to not be who he said he was. His only support gone...

No! No more being upset! Time to get even more serious! These baby books won't be of use at all. Nothing he had before helped prepare him for this so Naruto will have to expand his horizons and ask for help from Jiraiya again. He will learn everything there is to know about that monster and when the time comes he will slay it.

No doubts about that. Absolutely none.

* * *

And finished!

A Naruto obsessed with revenge is fun to write hehe! I feel bad for him because we all know he's gonna fail. At least he'll get his quasi-happy ending tho. There are several secrets here obviously. I'm sure several of you have figured out the big one eh :P? I'll try to keep it a surprise/suspenseful anyway haha. As for what's going to happen once he gets home, it'll be touched upon in the next chapter(even though there's a time jump)! Playing with the tone/style here and I'm having fun with it.

Happy to see people are looking at my profile for story/life updates :D! Um next update will be idk...probably Anything That Can Go Wrong. I've stopped focusing on only one story because I keep getting ideas for the others while I'm writing so now it is free-for-all. Um just continue checking my profile for what's close to being updated please!

Now this story SHOULDN'T take another 6 months to update now that I have a better idea of what to do.

Okay that's all! Please let me know what you think!


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